Ram guide for hook and eye member setting machines



Feb. 7, 1961 w, v, E co o 2,970,315

RAM GUIDE FOR HOOK AND EYE MEMBER SETTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 20, 1957 ml! I 1 INVENTOR. William V. De Nicolo AH'orneqs United States Patent RAM GUIDE FOR HOOK AND EYE MEMBER SETTING MACHINES William V. De Nicolo, Chicago, Ill., assig or, by mesne assignments, to The North & Judd Manufacturing Co., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Dec. 20, 1957, Ser. No. 104,110 4 Claims. (Cl. 1-325 textile material therebetween in effecting an assembled 7 relation.

vThis application is an improvement over the apparatus described and claimed in the copending applications of Edgar C. Lundeberg, Ser. No. 587,784, filed May 28, 1956, and entitled Eye Setting Machine, and Ser. No. 608, 418, filed August 31, 1956, and entitled Hook-Stay Setting Machine. In each of the machines described in the aforementioned copending applications, use is made of an elongate ram pivotally mounted at its upper end for forward and backward rocking movement while the ram is capable simultaneously of-reciprocal up and down movement between a normal raised position, illustrated by blocked lines in Fig. l, to a lowered or operated position, illustrated by solid lines in Fig. 1. In each case, the ram is provided with a ram head which is adapted to be in crosswise alignment with the outlet of a feed chute for the eye member or hook member, as the case may be, when the ram is in normal raised andrearwardly displaced position, and, in each case, the ram head is adapted to be in alignment with the anchor plate for insertion of the prongs of the eye member or of the hook member through the openings of the anchor plate when the ram is in operated or lowered and forward position.

The ram is pivotally suspended from a rocker arm which is controlled in rocking movement by a cam disc mounted on a drive shaft which is rotated through a cycle of operation by motor or other power means. The rocker arm is actuated about its pivot to raise and lower the ram responsive to actuation of the disc cam on the drive shaft. Other disc cams are mounted on the same drive shaft for controlling the operation of other elements including the anchor plate feed, the eye or hook member feed and the prong bending mechanism, all of which operations are carried out in timed sequence after the cycle of operation has been started. t

In the aforementioned copending applications, the ram is caused to rock about its pivot between its rearward and forward positions of adjustment in response to the up and down movement of the ram. For this purpose, use is made of an inclined link pivotally connected at one end to the frame of the machine while the other end is pivotally connected to an intermediate portion of the ram. In addition tothe link control, description was also made of the use of apin on the ram adapted to enter a slot extending inwardly and outwardly in a plate It was found that the link control, alone or in com-' ice , 2 bination with the pin and slot guide, was incapable of flexibility sufficient for adjustment to meet varying conditions from the standpoint of the thickness of material, size of anchor plates or hook and eye members, or ad ustment to compensate for errors in construction or wear. As a result, extensive repairs were frequently required in some machines for adjusting the machine for use with certain materials to the end that an acceptable hook and eye assembly could be achieved.

It was found further that the guiding relation derived from the units described left much to be desired from the standpoint of accuracy and control in the movementof parts.

Thus it is an object. of this invention to provide a guide means for the ram which accurately controls movement of the ram about its pivot in response to its up and down movement from normal to operated positions and it is a'related object to produce a new and improved hook and eye setting machine embodying'greater accuracy in the movement of parts and greater fiexibilities with respect to the adjustment of the machine to meet existing conditions.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes ofillustration, but not of limitation, an embodiment of the in- -vention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in

which- Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a fragmentary portion of the hook or eye setting machine embodying the features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view with elements shown in Fig. l, and I Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. l.

In accordance with the practice of this invention, the

ram 10 pivotally mounted at its upper end on a pin 12, extending crosswise between yokes 14 and 16, on the end of a rocker arm 18 and is provided on its lower end with a ram head 20 of the type described in the aforementioned copending application Ser. No. 587,784 oras described in my copending application filed'concurrently herewith and entitled Machine for the Assembly'of Eye Members in Textile Materials, Serial No.

Fixed to the side in an intermediate portion ofthe ram'lll and in closely spaced parallel relation thereto is a rigid plate 22 having openings 24 and 26 in the end portions in registry with openings 28 and 30 in the ram to enable the insertion of bolt members 32 therethrough in effecting an assembled relation by the use of nut members 34. Spacers 36 are provided on the through-extending portions of the bolts between the ram 10 and the plate 22 for maintaining a desired spacing 38 therebetween. As shown in the drawing, the plate and the ram may beprovided with a rearwardly extending portion 40 intermediate the ends which are adapted to be provided with crosswise aligned openings 42 and 44 to receive a shaft 46 for mounting a roller 48 for free rotational movementin the space 38 between the plate and ram.

A base plate 50 is secured, as by means of screws 52, to the front, face of aframe member 54 of the machine ina location rearwardly of the ram. Secured to the edge of the base plate 50, as by setscrews 56, is a guide plate 58 which extends forwardly from the base plate in endwise alignment with the space 38 between the ram 10 and the p1ate'22 for a'distance to project into said space when the ram is in its raised or lowered positions of adjustment and when the ram is rocked about its pivotal support to its forward or backward positions of adjustment.

The guide plate is formed with a guide slot 60 which extends substantially vertically forwardly for a short distance spaced inwardly from the outer edge of the guide plate. The guide slot continues for a short distance inwardly and upwardly from the upper edge of the vertical portion 62 and throughout its length it is dimensioned to have a width corresponding to the width of the roller 48 to receive the roller in fitting relation therein.

The guide plate 58 is positioned on the base plate to retain the roller 48 within the guide slot 60 through the movement of the ram between raised and lowered positions of adjustment so that the ram will be constantly controlled in its rocking movement about its pivot by operation of the roller 48 within the guide slot 60. Thus when the ram is in its raised or normal position of adjustment, illustrated in broken lines in Fig. l, the roller 48 will reside in the upper and inwardly inclined portion 64 of the guide slot to hold the ram in its rearward position of adjustment. As the ram is displaced downwardly, the roller will be displaced downwardly within the guide slot to cause the ram to rock outwardly about its pivot until the roller enters the vertically disposed end portion 62 of the guide slot. When in this position, the ram head should be in vertical alignment with the anchor plate on the anvil with the prongs of the eye member or hook member in alignment with corresponding openings in the anchor plate.

Upon continued downward movement of the ram 10, the roller 48 will traverse the vertically arranged portion 62 of the guide slot 60 to permit downward displacement of the ram and ram head in alignment with the anchor plate to guide the prongs downwardly through the openings of the anchor plate in effecting the assembled relation, as defined in the aforementioned copending applications. be predetermined to position the ram so that the head is in proper alignment with the anchor plate.

As the ram rises from its lowered position of adjustment, the roller 48 will be displaced through the vertical portion 62 of the guide slot 60 to guide the ram in vertical movement. As the roller enters the inwardly and upwardly inclined upper portion 64 of the guide slot 60 the ram will be displaced inwardly about its pivot concurrently with such upward movement. The ram is adapted to be rocked inwardly about its pivot by an amount to bring the head 20 in crosswise alignment with the end of the feed chute for the eye or hook members when the ram reaches its normal raised position. In the event that inward displacement is not sufiicient by the time that the ram reaches its raised position, adjustment of the position of the ram inwardly can be effected by downward adjustment of the guide plate 58 to cause the roller to be displaced further into the slot at the same raised position.

For this purpose, the openings through which the setscrews 56 extend are formed as elongate slots 66. Thus by loosening the setscrews holding the guide plate to the base plate, the guide plate can be adjusted downwardly to effect inward displacement of the ram in normal position or it can be adjusted upwardly to effect outward displacement of the ram in normal position. The plate can be secured in its adjusted position by tightening the setscrews 56.

In the preferred practice of this invention, the base plate is provided with arms 68 integral with the base plate and extending beyond the top and bottom edges of the guide plate in spaced relation therewith by an amount slightly greater than the movement available for adjustment. The arms are provided with threaded openings in vertical alignment with the guide plate. An elongate setscrew 70 extends through the openings in threaded engagement therewith and into engagement with the upper edge and the lower edge of the guide plate. Thus by turning one setscrew 70 in one direction and the other setscrew in the opposite direction, the guide plate can be adjusted vertically therebetween and the setscrews can themselves be locked in position by lock nuts 72 Thus the vertical portion of the guide slot can which are tightened down onto the arms to hold the setscrews. This auxiliary means is elfective to hold the guide plate 58 in the adjusted position in a manner to militate against inadvertent displacement.

It will be understood that instead of forming the lower portion 62 of the guide slot 60 to extend solely in the vertical direction, the guide slot 62 may be slightly inclined forwardly or rearwardly to effect slight movements of the ram and ram head responsive to continued movement of the ram to raised or lowered positions. It is preferred, however, to limit final movement to a guided vertical movement so as to enable the straight insertion of the prongs through thetextile material and the openings of the anchor plate as distinguished from a compound movement embodying a vertical component and a horizontal component which would tend to cause wrinkling of the textile material during the passage of the prongs therethrough. It will be understood, however, that the slots may be so inclined to effect compound movements when desired.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided an improved means for accurate control of the movements of the ram and ram head of an eye or hook setting machine and it will be apparent further that the construction described provides for easy adjustment to set the machine for operation under conditions existing to achieve accurate combination of the elements of the hook and eye fasteners with respect to the textile material but without impairing stability and smoothness of operation of the machine.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the, details of construction, arrangement and operation, such as the interchange to make the roller a part of the frame of the machine and the slotted plate a part of the ram, without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a hook and eye setting machine having a ram pivotally supported at its upper end for free rocking movement ina forward and rearward direction, a ram head on the end of the ram for carrying one of the members, including a hook member and an eye member and means for actuating the ram in vertical movement between raised and lowered positions, and means operatively engaging the ram for guiding the ram in rocking movement about its pivot between backward and forward positions responsive to movement of the ram between its raised and lowered positions comprising a guide plate having a guide slot extending upwardly substantially vertically for a short distance from the lower edge of the guide plate intermediate its ends and continuing in an inwardly and upwardly direction into the plate and a pin, one of which is rigid with the ram and the other of which is mounted on the machine, and in which the guide slot is dimensioned to have a width corresponding to the crosssection of the pin to enable the pin to be displaced therethrough and to have a length in the vertical direction greater than the vertical displacement of the ram to enable the pin to be retained within the slot during movement of the ram between raised and lowered positions.

2. A hook and eye setting machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the guide plate is mounted on the machine and the roller is fixed to form a part of the ram.

3. A hook and eye setting machine as claimed in claim 1 which includes means for vertical adjustment of the guide plate to vary the backward position of the ram when in raised position.

4. A hook and eye setting machine as claimed in claim 2 which includes a plate mounted on an intermediate portion of the ram with a space therebetween and g in which the guide plate aligned with the space for extension therethrough in position of use and in which the roller is rotatably mounted within the space on a shaft No references cited. 

